Colby Pearce has been a Steve Hogg Certified expert bike fitter for the past 10 years and has worked with elite athletes and WorldTour teams, including EF Education First. He is also an elite cycling coach and has been passing along his wisdom to the riders he coaches for decades. Pearce’s repertoire of knowledge spans 30 years, five continents, hundreds of races, and countless miles in the saddle. The minutiae of cycling and riding technique are just part of the story that Colby shares. Alignment with nature, foundational principles of health, and treating the sport as a practice are some of the philosophies he shares. Cycling in Alignment features a diverse guest list, including those who may or may not be familiar names in the cycling world. Prepare to have your belief systems shattered.
Episodes
Tuesday Jul 18, 2023
Tuesday Jul 18, 2023
FORM VS FUNCTION - THOUGHTS ON WEDGING - Ep109
Howdy Psycle-Naughts. This episode is a car pod, I am operating my mobile recording studio on the way out to Unbound Gravel for the 100 mile Old Man Race [50+ AKA 50% fossilized]. For those of you who may be concerned for my driving safety, or those who share the roads with me, fear not. This drive is about as brainless and safe as it gets. I literally take the highway east for 8.5 hours and then exit, with only 2 x 90 degree turns in the final hour of driving.
I unpack why cycling is yet again unique in the world of sports, specifically how cyclists are the only sportspeople who confuse athletics with fashion or aesthetics. Often, at their own peril, and even more relevantly, at their own performance.
I also unpack some thoughts on wedging in bike fitting. It’s a complicated topic and like any aspect of fitting, there are many factors that determine the best course of action or final solution for a rider [if such a thing exists, for many it does not, this is a myth of bike fitting].
Thanks for listening as always.
Thursday Jul 13, 2023
Thursday Jul 13, 2023
DIALED HEALTH X CYCLING IN ALIGNMENT - Ep108
In this episode I have a conversation with Derek Teel of Dialed Health. Derek and I met at Unbound and agreed to have a recorded discussion which turned out to have a lot points about training and coaching in it. We also talked about strength training, and if you check out Derek’s IG channel you will see that he does quite a bit of movement, and he offers a lot of useful guidance to his audience. He is a big believer in complementing the repetitive movement patterns of cycling with auxiliary training, and he and I definitely agree on this point. I really enjoyed our discourse and I hope you will too.
Links:
Dialed Health Website ►► https://dialedhealth.com
Dialed Health on Instagram ►► @dialedhealth (https://www.instagram.com/dialedhealth/)
Wednesday Jun 28, 2023
Wednesday Jun 28, 2023
BRENDAN HOUSLER - Ep107
In this episode of Cycling in Alignment I am reposting a conversation with Brendan Housler at EVOQ.BIKE. Brendan and I talk about the relationship to technology in cycling, strength and conditioning, and many other topics you will hopefully find interesting. I really enjoyed my conversation with Brendan and I am grateful he reached out to talk coaching.
You can also see our conversion on my YouTube channel, once it gets uploaded to the interwebs. Hopefully the Bezatron 6000 will approve and it can get some peeps.
Links:
Brendan's Email ►► CC@evoq.bike
Brendan's Website ►► evoq.bike
Other articles mentioned in the episode coming soon. Please check back.
Friday Jun 09, 2023
Friday Jun 09, 2023
Unbound Redux - Ep106
Greetings and Salutations. This podcast is a solo-sode on the return from the 100 mile Unbound Gravel race in Emporia, Kansas in 2023. I take the Kansas landscape journey in while I share my Unbound experience and talk about preparation for the event. It’s an excuse to tell my story [who doesn’t want to talk about their race?] while sharing what I hope is useful practical advice for preparation for an event of this nature. There are many details to be attentive to and organize in the context of a very busy few days.
I also share a few further thoughts on real time, actionable ideas for combating the escalating postural spiral that so many cyclists experience on the bike. If you have listened to my previous podcasts on this topic, you will have a better idea of what I am talking about. If not, you will hopefully find some nuggets in this part of the discussion.
Pedal fast, pedal consciously, thanks for listening.
Tuesday May 16, 2023
Tuesday May 16, 2023
This podcast is audaciously titled, as if I have all the answers. I certainly do not but I can at least hope that this information helps my audience, or at least gets them on the journey to help themselves.
In this podcast, the third of a series of three about the Spiral Pattern often seen in cyclists, I offer some exercises I believe may help to unwind us from the inevitable rotation around the seat tube that afflicts so many of us who have been entranced by the rhythm of the crankset.
In addition to describing the exercises in this episode, I have also made some videos of me demonstrating the movements. In spite of what you may think, I am not imitating Mark Wahlberg in the second movement; I am actually doing this Twisting Pillar movement to restore or improve symmetry in my body. But you can pretend I am just dancing if you want, I am cool with it.
Did this series help you with your twisted movement pattern on the bike? After trying these exercises for a few weeks, have you improved your function? Let me know in the comments. If you feel someone may benefit from this information, please share it with them.
And don’t forget to kit out your whip with the best bearings on the market: Matt Harvey and Rick Sutton from Enduro Bearings. See Link Below:
https://cyclinglinalignmentwithcolbypearce.podbean.com/e/81enduro/
#SpiralSolutions #bikefit #bikefitting #Physiology #exercise #cycling
Tuesday May 02, 2023
Tuesday May 02, 2023
Episode #2 in my series on hip and ankle asymmetries talks about the spiral pattern that all humans naturally manifest. I discuss why this happens and offer some ideas on what we can do about it. There is a lot of material to cover in this topic so I don’t get into too many specific solutions but fear not, more info is coming in episode #3 of this series.
Cycling is a sport that tends to bring about a point of friction when our spiral patterns interact with what is fundamentally a symmetrical machine. This can lead to frustrations in our pursuit of cycling performance, zen, or exploration. Having worked with many clients who struggle with this outcome, I offer some observations and practical solutions to this conundrum.
Saturday Apr 01, 2023
Saturday Apr 01, 2023
Asymmetry - Ep103
This episode is a solo episode to outline a series of discussions around the function of the hip and foot in the context of cycling. In my little universe of experiences as a human and bike fitter, I see many riders walk through my door with challenges in foot and hip stability, and this causes a host of individual outcomes and problems. The specifics vary but the common denominator is poor hip stability on the bike. This can result in sensations of being “twisted”, saddle sores, knee pain, back pain, shoulder pain, IT band pain, and all kinds of other niggles.
Riders are often confused when they report this instance, almost dumbfounded, as though they have been robbed of their precious and irreplaceable dopamine fix. They also are often under the impression that they are the sole human in the universe to ever suffer from these afflictions. I assure you, you are not alone.
In this series I will attempt to delineate the fundamental causes of why this happens and offer some solutions. This will take at least two more episodes, as it’s a big topic.
I will take my typical antagonistic stance against cycling and how it tends to wreck human function, so if you are going to be upset while I slaughter this holy cow [yet again] with my brutal honesty, then go read a story about how some emaciated pro tortured themself and won a bike race. If you want hard core truth and to understand the essence, stick around.
Saturday Mar 11, 2023
Saturday Mar 11, 2023
Karina Krepp: The Holistic Movement - Episode 102
On this Episode of Cycling in Alignment, I am interviewed by a colleague at the Chek Institute, Karina Krepp, on her channel The Holistic Movement. We discuss the postural compensations that are incurred by cyclists and practical ideas on what kinds of movements to offset them.
If you like Karina’s vibe, you may want to check out her channel on Youtube or Spotify. She has lots of excellent information and guests on her show. Go forth and make the keyboard mudras, enhancing your learning and life experience.
Links:
Tuesday Feb 28, 2023
Tuesday Feb 28, 2023
Nathan Haas: The Primal Fear
This conversation is a cross pod with Nathan Haas, he will also publish it on his channel, The Gravelogue.
We discuss The Primal Fear and how it impacts our decisions around training. Whether you are externally coached or self-coached, having a comparative mindset can allow self-doubt to cloud your decision making process during workouts, which can undermine or derail intent. This effect may be minor over days or a week, but in the long term, it can have a significant impact on your fitness trajectory.
In our discussion, we relate choices about training to the Six Foundational Principles and how they can help guide your decision making to be more effective in training.
Links:
The Gravelogue on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-gravelog-with-nathan-haas/id1090662866
The Gravelogue on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3vKBF0PpLI8EXjMNlRbEeW
The Gravelogue on TuneIn: https://tunein.com/podcasts/Sports--Recreation-Podcasts/The-Gravelog-with-Nathan-Haas-p2122441/
Monday Feb 20, 2023
Monday Feb 20, 2023
The 100th Episode
Welcome to the 100th episode of Cycling in Alignment. In some ways, it’s hard to believe I’ve made 100 episodes, but at the same time, it seems like I’ve been doing this forever. I’ve had the pleasure of talking to some ridiculously intelligent and articulate people, and hopefully, the conversations have informed and taught you. My goal has always been to educate and inform, so hopefully, this is the result of my effort. For this Centi-pod I have assembled a compendium of some of my favorite conversations. For all of my guests, if you were not included here, I mean no disrespect. All of you hold wisdom and I am grateful for your energy and input. I am also grateful for my audience. Without students, a teacher is nothing more than an idiot walking through the forest, talking to the leaves.